Communiqués

TSB #A 17/96

(For release 28 November 1996)

(Hull, Que.) - The investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is continuing into the fatal accident near Eel River Crossing, New Brunswick, on 20 October 1996, involving an American-registered Piper Navajo operated by Telford Aviation of Waterville, Maine. The aircraft was on a charter flight from Port Menier, Anticosti Island, Quebec, to Portland, Maine, via Bangor, Maine. There were seven passengers and one pilot on board.

As the aircraft approached Charlo, N.B. at 6,000 feet, in cruise flight, the pilot reported that he was diverting to Charlo due to a mechanical problem. The weather conditions around the Charlo Airport at the time were thick fog with a ceiling of 200 feet. In a radio conversation with the crew of another company aircraft flying in the area, the pilot indicated he was having engine problems, but did not indicate with which engine. About 10 minutes later, at 1212 ADT, the aircraft crashed in a vertical nose-down attitude, near a populated area, three miles from the threshold of runway 13. Witnesses indicated that the aircraft was flying very low and away from the airport in a westerly direction immediately before the accident. All those on board died on impact. The aircraft was extensively damaged by a post-crash fire.

The engines, propellers, and a number of other components were recovered for further detailed examination. After initial examination at the TSB's regional facility in Moncton, selected components were shipped to the TSB Engineering Laboratory in Ottawa. Extensive fire damage to the engines and their ancillary components has made it difficult to determine how the engines were functioning at the time of the accident. The aircraft was not equipped with flight recorders, nor was it required by regulation to be so equipped.

The TSB investigation is now concentrating on a number of areas: the metallurgical examination of those engine components that survived the crash and ensuing fire; computer-enhanced spectral analysis of the air traffic control tapes for information about engine performance; analysis of the radar tapes to determine the exact course the aircraft flew; the choice of diversion airfield; and analysis of the maintenance and operational records of this aircraft and crew.

The TSB will issue a public report upon completion of its investigation. However, the Board can also issue interim recommendations at any time during the investigation if any safety deficiencies are identified that pose serious risk to persons, property, or the environment and which warrant urgent corrective action.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is an independent agency operating under its own Act of Parliament. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

NOTE: This update is based on information assembled by investigation staff and may be amended as other facts are gathered. The analysis phase of the investigation is not complete and one should not attempt to infer findings as to the causes and contributing factors of the accident on the basis of this update. When the investigation team has all the necessary facts and has analyzed them, the Director of Investigations (DOI) will report them to the Board. The Board will consider the DOI's report and will, once it is satisfied that a thorough investigation and analysis has been completed, issue a draft report on the Board's findings and any safety deficiencies identified; that report will be sent on a confidential basis to persons with a direct interest in the Board's findings. Once these persons have had the opportunity to make representations, the Board will prepare and release its public report.

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